Good News: Wyoming Breast Cancer Initiative

Happy Monday, friends! I hope Valentine’s Day treated you all well. My Valentine brought me five gallons of paint for my dining room/living room, and I’ve never been more in love 😉 Truly, I was really excited to get that project tackled. And now I plan to avoid painting with everything I have for quite a while. Anyway, moving right along…

I mentioned in my last post that I’ve been busy lately working on a variety of projects, one of them being the Wyoming Breast Cancer Initiative. This is something I got involved in soon after moving here, initially as a way to use my PR skills while searching for a “real” job. It has since become something I am heavily involved in, and truly passionate about.

If you’re not sure why I’m passionate about breast cancer awareness to begin with, check out this page.

Backing up a bit, when I moved away from Iowa, I knew that a huge part of really enjoying my new home would hinge on my ability to get involved in this community. I’ve never been very good at sitting still, and love meeting new people, so volunteering for a brand new organization seemed like the perfect fit for me.

It just so happened that this organization was so brand new that they were in need of some help with their public relations efforts. So, with the help of an amazing team, we put together the “face” of the new Wyoming Breast Cancer Initiative.

My favorite part about working with nonprofits is the dedication of the people behind them. This is especially true of the WBCI. With it being a brand new organization, 100 percent of the people behind it are volunteering their time to make it happen. 

The Wyoming Breast Cancer Initiative (WBCI), in partnership with the Wyoming Community Foundation, is a new organization with an ongoing mission – to increase breast cancer awareness and prevention across Wyoming. The WBCI builds on previous efforts in Wyoming to raise awareness and educate Wyoming residents about breast cancer. Emphasis will be on increasing breast health education, financially assisting breast cancer screenings, facilitating patient navigation, and promoting survivor recognition. One hundred percent of funds raised through the WBCI will remain in Wyoming and will continue grants with existing health partner programs. Grant applications will be available in early summer through the Wyoming Community Foundation with funds awarded by the end of 2016. It is the WBCI’s goal to provide a grant in every county across Wyoming.

Now, this team is working on coordinating events for 2016. The first is something I can totally get behind – coffee and books!

52 Cups for Cancer will be the first event, and features Wyoming author Megan Gebhart. Her story is so cool. While in college, she challenged herself to have a cup of coffee each week for a year, then chronicled her conversations in a book, 52 Cups of Coffee.

 

Then, in August, the first annual Pink Ribbon Run will be held in Cheyenne. I love a good race, especially when there’s a cause behind it that I am passionate about.

Overall, my involvement with the WBCI has been so much fun. Not only has it given me the chance to use all those skills I worked so hard to learn in college, it’s given me the opportunity to meet so many great people in this community. I’ve learned that although Cheyenne is a larger town, people here are really invested in their community, which I love.

When I started this blog, this is the kind of thing I was excited to share with all of you. The people/places/things that I see in my every day life that exist for doing good. WBCI is doing wonderful things, and I’m so excited to be part of it.